As you know by whatsapp group, a lot of us are using Ravenol DXG. In mi opinion, if you remove the GPF, i´ll use amsoil. Redline is a lot in street use.

 

Yes, Amsoil will affect the GPF the most, due to the higher amount of ash and sulfur. This only affects Europeans haha I use Amsoil anyway

 

bobistheoilguy would be better audience for this thread.

 

do we know how does the author determine base oil? AFAIK manufacturers usually do not specify this and it is not always clear from safety sheets either...

I would just stick to any reasonably priced oil of any reputable brand, choose the right spec/viscosity for your use case and shorten your OCI. I don't really believe there is one magic oil that will be superior to others by significant margin, and if so it will be superiorly more expensive lol... We need @TRU-BOOST and @TessaSeveride to give us their comments on the topic

 

Really just depends on the use case. Oil is a balance between protecting the engine, protecting the emissions systems, and protecting the average fuel mileage. Shorter oil change interval is better, but without tearing apart the engine and doing legitimate wear checking with indicators and gauges, who knows how much it actually helps? A lot of modern oil is largely similar enough, especially if you go by approvals and grades instead of marketing jargon. A few boutique oils have legitimate advantages, but they are hard to justify because they just don't have the objective data available through manufacturer approvals. HPL for instance has virtually no additive shear, because most of their oils have zero viscosity index improvers. Shear is <1.5% of starting viscosity from every oil in their No-VII line-up that I've personally tested.

 

"Best" is a strong word and I dont like to use it. So much of it comes down to an individual use case that its hard to say. Hell, my all time favorite oil that has been "best" for my cars was a low cost Group III base that even the manufacturer called their "mid tier" oil. That of course is Castrol Magnatec. Higher group numbers do not immediately translate to a better product. What it does guarantee is a more expensive product because the refining practices used are much more intense and expensive.

 

I do like Redline oil. Ester based. If you are changing oil at 10K miles+. This oil is ideal. Probably my next oil on Forester XT

 

Whats is the criteria for best. Unless youve tried these to failure, how are you able to determine best?

 

Go do eight hard track days on each oil you selected. It may not be perfect science but you will have a hell of a lot of fun and I will happily read the results

 

While I still think this post would get better replies on bobistheoilguy, TS and TB have good knowledge on the topic. From what I have seen in track groups, Motul is by far on top than redline and Amsoil. I am poor bass that uses 0w40 mobil1 and calls it a day because it has A40 cert and that is good enough for me. There are general rules but not everything is norm and sum of the parts, few things are always an exception.

 

@GR_Navarrete you can check the thread here, from what I can recall, ironically those Group 3 oils that you shared in the image held viscosity better than Amsoil for example. Also I follow BITOG from time to time and the Ravenol DXG is also know for shearing like crazy in otherwise ok engine, I don't even want to imagine how that oil would shear down in the FA24. On the other hand, those PAO/Ester blends usualy start off with lower virgin viscosity, so the shear might not be that crazy in percents.

Of course, viscosity is not the only factor, but why would I over-pay for the "better" oil on paper, if I know I can get cheaper oil that won't shear down just by touching the FA24

 

Hi! I was thinking of using Ravenol DFE 0w20, I live in Patagonia (cold climate) is this a good oil? I can also get Toyota Japan oil, but I'm sure it's Idemitsu.

 

Thanks for sharing. If you replace your oil often and are not putting your car in extreme conditions (driving or temperatures), then the best oil is the cheapest imo. Pennzoil (Shell) has that $25 rebate going on year round… such a deal, especially if you are replacing often. 1 or 10 ppm of something isn’t going to matter after that oil hits 500 miles and gets mixed with gas etc.

 

Lotsa truth to this. Instead of focusing on extreme condition performance, I would say that for most owners, changing oil thats degradaded from use should be the priority. Twice the oil changes is probably better over all.

 

These days oil is oil. The results don’t show a clear picture. One oil may give a good result in one vehicle and not so goon in another.
Best advice is to do a UOA which also may show if your engine is sound. I will always go with a heavier oil than a 20wt. Also I am a fan of higher molybdenum especially in a manual where full film lubrication is lost and higher moly may reduce bearing wear.

if you are going extended oil changes, a Group IV or V is good. Redline, RP, Motule, Amsoil, Shaeffer’s. I have done many 10 k miles on Group IIi oils

 

Right.. along the same lines as steak is steak, pizza is pizza, and wine is wine. If oil is oil, then there would be no wear difference between lower and higher grades.

 

I'm no scientist... but I can tell you if you change your oil every 3 to 4,000 mi, your car should be able to go 300k

 

Not the way some of us drive!! For some, every 3-4 track days might be the best OCI. Either way, overall use case is a major key to "best oil" selection for durability, economy and performance.

 

Way to read between the lines.
I have used exclusively Castrol Magnatec for a long time. Unfortunately they stopped producing and selling it in the USA about 2 years ago. When I heard it was happening I stocked up on all the 5w20 and 5w30 I could get my hands on. I have been using it only in my BRZ and SHO Taurus. It has always been a top performer in ecoboost engines which tend to be hard on oil. The BRZ does shear it down worse than twin turbo 3.5 V6 in the taurus which is crazy. But in 5w20 I was staying at or above the 8.0 cSt visc at 100c. Now using 5w30 it is more than good enough. I am however down to my last 12ish quarts of my old faithful stuff. I have been experimenting with suitable replacements using my impreza as a guinea pig. So far I know I wont be using Havoline or the GTX blend from Castrol. I am currently playing with Valvoline Advanced. Im actually hoping it looks good because the stuff can be bought in bulk for dirt cheap.

 

I am currently playing with Valvoline Advanced. Im actually hoping it looks good because the stuff can be bought in bulk for dirt cheap.

I was looking at the Valvoline data from the specifications they provide. I built a simple index table (at the bottom) to compare with and it looks like the (EP, HM, FS) would perform best. viscosity retention wise. I don't have information as to the additive package, but thought this might be of interest. Percentages are individual value/mean, for each property.

Interesting, same comparison on Pennzoil, the PUP is the worst and the EURO L the best.

 

Fair enough. Thanks!!I do think Amsoil Signature 5W-30 produces good wear results and here is an example.

Thanks again.

 

Just put Valvoline in and one Quart of Movil1 20W-50. I will do a UOA at 5K miles. If OK at 10K miles

 

Since I mentioned the Pennzoil.......

 

We will see how the Valvoline Advanced does. I just put it in this past weekend. I have some magnatec left in reserve, but figured "why not". I went a full 5k OCI on the 5w30 magnatec testing at 3,4,5k. To my surprise even with a whole lot of ethanol use, it held up pretty damn good. Wear metals were all low, 100c visc at 9.6 TBN still crazy good at 5.5 and the biggest surprise was that there was no sign of fuel dilution what so ever which is very common with E85 use. DT has done a killer job getting the tune dialed in.
Im not a fan of running HM oils in modern cars with engines that are held together by rtv. Seals can be over conditioned. EP is fine, but with the shorter intervals most of us use, I dont feel there will be much benefit honestly. The Advanced formula is actually pretty dang close to Magnatec in terms of base oil and modifier type. The add pack is fairly close as well. It makes me think it should perform similar. Time will tell. Its late in the year and I wont be packing miles on very quickly soon, but I will have results..... Eventually. Lol

 

I knew that what I posted was by no means a representation of a "complete" comparison inside brands or an indicator of a "best model" proposal, but I put it up here for discussion by those with much more expertise in this field than myself.

 

I was never much of a calcimine fan but the Advanced and Extended Performance look good.

 

Where's the Pennzoil Ultra Platinum juice? Those bright yellow jugs add 5hp.

I'm of the change often good quality oil vs keeping in longer really highly rated swill.

 

I just wanted to add for Australian 2nd Gen BRZ owners (sorry GR86 peeps, it may be different for you with the manual in terms of legal gymnastics):

So far Castrol Australia and Penrite have listed 0w20 as recommended as per the manual however have 5w20 and 5w30 listed as alternatives.

Castrol is broken down as follows:

Castrol Edge 0w20 C5 (recommended)
Castrol Magnatec 0w20 (alt)
Castrol Magnatec 5w30 DX (alt)

This is where it gets interesting for Castrol Edge 5w30 A3/B4, which is what I am using through my local Subaru Service centre. While A3 spec'd oil is not listed on Castrol's site, it is however in the BRZ owner's manual (Tobes showcased this last year):

I just got off the phone to my service centre as I am about to buy some top up oil, and wanted to re-confirm if they used Edge or Magnatec in the car. Edge 5w30 was confirmed. They also said they carried and thus recommended the 5w30 Edge as 0w20 has been quite hard to source in Australia recently.

To add to this, Castrol Australia have Edge 5w30 A3/B4 listed as the recommended oil for the FA20D BRZ on their site. This is despite the first gen BRZ manual listing 0w20 as recommended.

I've been talking to Tru recently and I can see where he is coming from when it comes to the misinformation being spread regarding oils. I can see why people have been anxious. What a time we are living in.

 

The Australia BRZ manual does allow adding other oil types, but like the US manual they state 0W20 must be used on the next oil change. The biggest hole on the limitation for both is where they both say higher viscosity is required for hot temperature as stated in the snip below from the Australia 2022 manual. Key is that neither a definition of what hot weather is or how much higher viscosity is provided and the word required is strong legal language.

 

The Australia BRZ manual does allow adding other oil types, but like the US manual they state 0W20 must be used on the next oil change. The biggest hole on the limitation for both is where they both say higher viscosity is required for hot temperature as stated in the snip below from the Australia 2022 manual. Key is that neither a definition of what hot weather is or how much higher viscosity is provided and the word required is strong legal language.

View attachment 54173

My 2023 manual doesn't have the italicised wording about 0w20, but it does have the wording regarding the hot weather verbatim.

I agree that 'required' (def: officially compulsory) trumps 'recommended' (def: advised or suggested). My service centre appears to have retained a solid middle ground on this by just sticking either 0w-20 or 5w-30 in the majority of their cars given supply issues and how hot it can get here.

Weird looking table I might add as well. Not sure this is right either. Unless I'm reading it wrong, I sure as hell am NOT using 0w-20 when the temperatures get to 30C+ and 40C+ where I live.

This is a cool merry-go-round we're on I tell you lol.

 

I’ve tested a few different 5w30 engine oil, and Amsoil is easily one of the best for long-term protection. However, for budget-friendly option, Liqui Moly Top Tec 4200 is another strong performer, it has high moly and boron content.

 

I’ve tested a few different 5w30 engine oils, and Amsoil is easily one of the best for long-term protection. However, for budget-friendly option, Liqui Moly Top Tec 4200 is another strong performer, it has high moly and boron content.

Please show test results.. In God we trust, everyone else provide DATA.

 

When you say you have "tested" these oils, what exactly do you mean? I've been using the Liqui Moly Top Tec 4200 since my first change at 1100 miles, I have since changed it at 5000 indicated and 10,000 indicated miles, as that interval has worked well for my driving in the past with quality synthetic oils. My car now has just under 12000 miles on it and it has never used any oil after the 1100 mile break in period. I went with the Liqui Moly after seeing it used by several people in my local SCCA Region who are avid autocrossers, in VW and BRZ/GR86 cars.

 

Well, from our UOA data.... (ingnore the Valvoline, it's from only one sample DD car)
The data in parenthesis are number of samples @ average miles per UOA on oil.
I am aware that it's not a large enough sample counts to be statistically sound, but here it is separated by brand......